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dormant
[ dawr-muhnt ]
adjective
- lying asleep or as if asleep; inactive, as in sleep; torpid:
The lecturer's sudden shout woke the dormant audience.
Synonyms: quiescent
- in a state of rest or inactivity; inoperative; in abeyance:
The project is dormant for the time being.
Synonyms: quiescent
- Biology. in a state of minimal metabolic activity with cessation of growth, either as a reaction to adverse conditions or as part of an organism's normal annual rhythm.
- Pathology. (of a disease) in an inactive phase but not cured; no longer exhibiting symptoms but perhaps only temporarily. Compare latent ( def 2 ).
- undisclosed; unasserted:
dormant musical talent.
Synonyms: latent
- Geology. (of a volcano) not having erupted within the last 10,000 years, but having the probability of erupting again. Compare active ( def 10 ), extinct ( def 5 ).
- Botany. temporarily inactive:
dormant buds; dormant seeds.
- (of a pesticide) applied to a plant during a period of dormancy:
a dormant spray.
- Heraldry. (of an animal) represented as lying with its head on its forepaws, as if asleep.
dormant
/ ˈdɔːmənt /
adjective
- quiet and inactive, as during sleep
- latent or inoperative
- (of a volcano) neither extinct nor erupting
- biology alive but in a resting torpid condition with suspended growth and reduced metabolism
- usually postpositive heraldry (of a beast) in a sleeping position
dormant
/ dôr′mənt /
- Being in an inactive state during which growth and development cease and metabolism is slowed, usually in response to an adverse environment. In winter, some plants survive as dormant seeds or bulbs, and some animals enter the dormant state of hibernation.
- Not active but capable of renewed activity. Volcanoes that have erupted within historical times and are expected to erupt again are dormant.
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Derived Forms
- ˈdormancy, noun
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Other Words From
- non·dor·mant adjective
- sem·i·dor·mant adjective
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Word History and Origins
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Word History and Origins
Origin of dormant1
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Synonym Study
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Example Sentences
In addition to its million-and-a-half year dormant stretch, the fault line is nearly impossible to see from above.
We reported on the efforts of Dr. Susan Harkema, who is working to “wake up” dormant spinal cord neurons.
There was a Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi during this period, but it was largely dormant.
In some patients, symptoms can lie dormant anywhere from seven days to eight weeks.
Is there an innate, yet dormant capacity within the elderly to actually reverse their ailments if only given the right signals?
The dormant accounts most of the banks maintain with the reserve bank are, perhaps, indicative of their attitude toward it.
And would some measure of great success won on those lines stir the dormant greatness in him?
This is a great improvement over the secret and dormant methods of getting the capital needed for partnership purposes.
A few of the volcanoes in the latter region have only recently become extinct; a few may be only dormant.
In a row stood five large, glass-mounted incubators; behind the glass doors lay, in dormant majesty, five enormous eggs.
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